Effective blood cell (BC) biopreservation techniques for maintaining viability and function ex vivo represent the foundation of modern blood banking Routine processes such as collection, storage and transportation, which are performed by donor centers and transfusion services, rely on the ability to prevent or delay the detrimental biochemical, biophysical, and morphologic effects of ex vivo BC preservation. The field of BC biopreservation is driven largely by the clinical need for BC products.
Maintaining the quality and safety of clinically used blood products requires effective techniques for the preservation of BC viability and function. Biopreservation-induced BC injury has a significant impact on transfusion efficacy and can be linked to pro-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, increased infections, increased length of stay in the hospital, and increased morbidity and mortality.
Improving hypothermic BC storage practices can have an enormous effect on transfusable blood unit availability, safety, and quality; furthermore, extending hypothermic storage times improves blood logistics by decreasing BC losses due to expiration and transportation, and improving autologous and remote blood storage. For the last 25 years, BC biopreservation research has focused on modifications of storage solution composition, blood collection protocols, and devices in effort to lengthen BC hypothermic storage.
Nevertheless, techniques for liquid storage of BCs have remained relatively unchanged since their inception in the 1940s, and progress in improving the quality and function of hypothermically stored BCs ex vivo has been very slow. The current focus of transfusion medicine has shifted from extending storage times to improving the quality of hypothermically stored blood products.
An object of the present invention is to provide improved methods and materials for hypothermic collection and transport of whole blood that both enhance the quality and extend the viability of whole blood, including cord blood, and components isolated therefrom.